So often we use the words magnificent & amazing to describe the Estates and Villa properties that's we choose for our Provence & Tuscany Expeditions... And it would of course be human nature to think that we might be biased or exaggerating just a bit... But we try hard not to "oversell" the magnificence of the Estates, as that would only lead to disappointment and mistrust...
We spend a lot of time (and money) on research trips to find what we think are the best properties... Our friends often laugh when we tell them we're going to Europe on research trips to find Villas or work on Tour Itineraries... But that's what you do in our business! Local travel agents don't do this type of thing... They typically just refer to a Villa Broker's catalog to make recommendations... But we don't feel we can comfortably do that... Often properties are photographed and described in a way to make them appear & sound grander than they really are... And if there's a noisy four lane highway or sewage plant in the backyard, you'd never know it till you got there! Don't laugh, we hear these stories all the time! And that's why we feel we have to personally scout out and visit these properties before we pick one.
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| You're gonna love this lounge area off of the Solarium |
In standard European business etiquette, we work ahead of time to make the proper contacts in the Real Estate & Brokerage businesses, and then we send Letters of Introduction explaining who we are and what we do... We ask for a meeting... typically we take them out for a nice dinner; This way we can have their undivided attention for 2 to 3 hours to explain what we do. We make all the arrangements for what is usually for us a two to three week working research trip; flights, rental cars, hotels, Airbnb's, itineraries, schedules, etc... And then we go and meet these people!
We ask for their assistance to help us find the right properties that will meet our needs. And then we set up daily appointments with them to Tour specific Estates. We worked with three different brokers to finally find Château du Soleil in Provence... We give them a checklist of "must haves" and then we narrowed it down from a little over 150 Villas and toured a dozen different Villas that met all of our prerequisites... and on the days they couldn't get us appointments to get into the Villas, we work on the Tour Itinerary and scouting out cities, villages, wineries and attractions to include (or exclude) on the Tour. While there's lots of Villas throughout Provence, there's very few that meet our exacting standards and specific needs...
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| This is the dining loggia down at the Pool with the pool kitchen in the background |
And then, and this is a "biggie," we need large Villas with lots of Bedrooms, each with its own private ensuite bathroom! So this narrows the field dramatically! Very few Villas have ensuite bathrooms for each bedroom or suite of bedrooms. A big beautiful 8 bedroom/4 bath Villa maybe works if you're going on vacation with all family, but not so much if you're sharing a bathroom with people you've never met. And then there's a whole list of other prerequisites! We want a Villa high up on a hilltop with magnificent views! Of course a pool! This, believe or not, again cuts what's left of the prospective choices in half... and this time we asked that it be a heated pool, so fewer still!
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| with the whole property being so grand it's sometimes easy to miss the various water fountains, and large statues places throughout the gardens... if you zoom in on this photo, you'll see a couple of statues behind the pool... |
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| the grand kitchen in the Villa, is a beautiful light filled space... we use these large counters and the kitchen table to lay out the wonderful breakfast buffet |
We made three of these research trips to Provence to work on this project, finding the right Villa and putting together the Itinerary of the Tours. But we think you'll agree with us, that what we've finally found in Château du Soleil will have made it all worthwhile...
Château du Soleil... our Villa in The South of France! It is truly your time here at this incredible Villa that separates Adventures to Provence from most other Tour operators. Most Tour Operators would have you and your whole 50 person busload of tour-mates staying at a crowded tourist hotel in the center of a busy & noisy city like Avignon... That's why we use tag lines like; "the way you choose to see the world creates the world you see" and of course our favorite; "what makes us different, makes all the difference in the world."
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| we rarely use the formal dining room, in favor of eating outside |
Château du Soleil is a beautiful and sprawling estate. A 400 year old Villa sitting on a hilltop on the border of the Luberon & Vaucluse regions overlooking the Provençal Hills & the medieval village of Venasque... having received the most prestigious award; Les Plus Beaux Villages de France by the French authorities as one of the "Most Beautiful Villages of France".
We will in fact not be taking you to just one of these "Most Beautiful Villages", but to four of them! Venasque, Gordes, Rousillon and Les Baux-de-Provence! And with over 35,000 villages throughout France, to be awarded this designation is indeed truly prestigious!
While this Villa has been in several families over 4 centuries, it was it's latest owner who most recently renovated the entire estate... He added the latest additions including over 8000 Sq feet of new living space; the amazing Solarium, 4 more bedrooms, a full apartment for the care takers, a 10 car garage (for his personal car collection), the game room, a new pantry, the ice machines, the new kitchen, the Bocce court, the new heated pool, the extensive landscaped gardens with statues and water fountains, the sound system and internet access that surrounds the pool area and gardens, the outdoor terraces with the electronic sunshades, and the Pool Kitchen. 
The estate had sold a few years ago to a French celebrity who remains anonymous to us...(the management & brokers of the estate have signed NDA's (non-disclosure agreements) and can not tell us who owns the estate, but it'll be pretty obvious to you that whoever owns this estate, has some serious money.
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| The open-air Solarium, the Terraces that surround it, and the pool areas are where we typically enjoy our evening Happy Hour Parties! |
We hope you're getting excited about your upcoming adventure! We've just started working with the chef's on the new menus... As you know, our evening meals are served family style, so please let us know now if you have medical allergies or serious dietary restrictions so that we can try to make arrangements for you.
We've attached a video below of the driveway and the approach to the Villa to give you just a bit of an idea as to how large this estate really is... And lastly, notice that you're not just going up a long road, you're climbing over 1200 feet of vertical ascent! This hilltop setting gives The Villa just outstanding views out over the Provençal Countryside and of our nearby homebase village of Venasque! Enjoy!
you'll want to turn your volume on and consider going full screen for this
